Four More Years Of Rove On Fox: What To Expect (Hint: Not The Truth)

January 17, 2013 4:39 PM EST ›››
OLIVER WILLIS

Politico reports that Fox News has extended Karl Rove's contract through 2016. If the past is any indication, you can expect the network to continue to be used as a fundraising and publicity vehicle for Rove-affiliated outside groups, Republican Party propaganda masked as news analysis, and repeated failure to disclose Rove'sentangled interests.

Rove, the so-called "architect" of President Bush's election wins, was hired as a Fox contributor in 2008.

During his appearances, Fox has frequently failed to inform its viewers that Rove is still an active participant in Republican Party politics -- specifically the creation and operation of American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, his PAC and non-profit, respectively, that spent millions opposing Democrats in the 2010 and 2012 elections.

Rove has been reliable source of pro-Republican falsehoods on Fox during appearances in which he was often billed as an analyst, rather than as a Republican political operative with a vested interest in the outcome.

Before voting in the Republican primary had even started, Rove bragged on Fox that when the eventual nominee ran out of money "we're going to be there to defend him." And he was -- on Fox, with outside ads, and in his Wall Street Journal column.

He baselessly warned about an Obama "October surprise," and dispensed "advice" for Mitt Romney on-air several months after speaking at a donor retreat for the candidate

Rove was Fox's go-to analyst for the response to an Obama press conference,then proceeded to regurgitate previously debunked falsehoods about the administration.

The network spent an entire day on-air and online promoting an ad from Rove's American Crossroads, and then brought on Rove during The O'Reilly Factor to discuss how great the ad was. During his tenure at Fox, Rove has been able to rely on the network to promote Crossroads' ads even when he isn't on air.

Perhaps the most noticed moment of Rove's tenure at Fox was his election night 2012 tantrum, where he demanded that the network rescind its call that President Obama won Ohio.

Anchor Megyn Kelly took the network's cameras to their election decision desk with Rove's complaint, only to be rebuffed with their explanation that the mathematical models showed that it was statistically impossible for a Romney victory in Ohio. Obama eventually won the state by over 160,000 votes.

Following the election, Fox News briefly benched Rove and reportedly issued "orders mandating that producers must get permission before booking Rove." Rove has since reappeared on Fox with all-new distortions for Obama's second term. There's no reason to expect much better from him, or Fox.